Emptoris buys Rivermine to exploit telecom expense management solution

Emptoris Inc., which provides supply management and enterprise contract management solutions to Global 1,000 companies, has acquired Rivermine Inc., a telecom expense management company, to expand its customer base and increase its footprint. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Emptoris traditionally has helped companies like Kraft Foods, for instance, negotiate contracts with their vendors and even agreements with contract workers, said Kevin Potts, Emptoris VP of Marketing and Product Management. Increasingly, companies are looking at their telecom spend, which could be between $100 million and $500 million per year, and wondering how to manage that.
Rivermine has been managing telecom spends for large companies for the last 10 years, and can reduce annual spends anywhere from 10% to 35%, said Hector Nevarez, Rivermine VP of Product Management and Product Marketing. Rivermine also helps companies manage the lifecycle of their telecom assets, including ordering, inventory, invoice processing and auditing, as well as wireless expense management, mobile device management, reporting and analytics.
In total, Rivermine said it manages $6 billion in communications spending. Customers include Chubb Insurance, Ford Motor Co., Fannie Mae, IKON Office Solutions and Sodexo. Most of Rivermine’s contracts are in the United States. Potts said Emptoris aims to expand to more international markets, where it already has customers and a sales force.
Businesses are still mixed in whether they issue corporate-owned telecom devices or lets employess use their own devices and service plans and expense them to the company, Nevarez said. There are advantages to each plan. Some companies with strict security policies, like financial institutions, prefer to issue corporate devices, while other companies prefer that individuals own the devices and expense their bills to the company. Regardless of which method companies use, they need to study their service plans to make sure they’re maximizing their savings. For example, one large company had 1,500 employees on international calling plans who never traveled internationally, Potts noted.
With the acquisition of Rivermine, Emptoris said it has more than 300 Global 1,000 customers, 650-plus employees and combined projected annual growth of more than 20%. Marlin Equity Partners, wich is Emptoris’ majority shareholder and capital partner, funded the acquisition.